The Big V

I seem to be a little late on noticing these types of things, but late is better than not at all.

In my research on Apsaras, the first thing I noticed (and conjoined) was the iconography of the female form and the linga (phallus). It makes sense for all the reasons, as they do exist side-by-side at Angkor Wat. One would not be far-fetched at all to put the two together (yet, as I keep on harping about, to date the scholarship does not).

I recently read a review of a book entitled The Story of V by Catherine Blackledge which brings to light the wonders of the vagina. Seriously. The wonders of the vagina.

The main thread seems to be in a similar vein to The Da Vinci Code as Blackledge's book, "explores how female genitalia have been conceived and misconceived over the centuries...." to quote the blurb from the website.

Quite true, for the past 2,000 years of Christendom, the vagina has been relegated as pornographic or pejoratively referred to in the vernacular, or dealt with in an antiseptic, clinical way. So it comes as a refreshing relief to note that the vagina is "intelligent". It is not merely a passive vessel but a highly selective sorter for future human life.

Perhaps we need to bear in mind that this type of rediscovery of the vagina's wonderful-ness had to come from the West. Recall the art of Georgia O'Keeffe,Judy Chicago , and the Vagina Monologues are but a few of the revivial of the pride of the vagina in recent times. In contrast, The Asian world has hardly any trouble with vaginas (at least not traditional cultures, i.e., those not too swamped with Western values--count Indian culture as a culture that has gone the way of the dodo, unfortunately). Yes, Asians like vaginas. And this might be yet another major difference between East and West.

Now I have to find evidence of vagina worship. I would count myself as one of these.